Just seven three-year-olds ran in the Group 1 Rosehill Guineas (2000m) this afternoon with the New Zealand-based Volkstok’n’barrell emerging victorious.

Pounamu lead the small field followed by the other New Zealand runner Mongolian Khan, Volkstok’n’barrell, and Sweynesse while Hampton Court was last. The Gai Waterhouse-trained horse was never even in the picture and is sure to be sent to the spelling paddock shortly.

Volkstok’n’barrell came off the fence, letting Preferment in for a run while on the turn for home Hallowed Crown made his way up the inside of the field.

The Donna Logan-trained Volkstok’n’barrell finished behind Mongolian Khan in both the Group 2 Avondale Guineas (2100m) and Group 1 New Zealand Guineas (2400m) back home in February, but the 2015 Rosehill Guineas was all his, inching out Group 1 Victoria Derby (2500m) winner Preferment on the line in a fantastic finish with Hugh Bowman delivering a top-notch ride on Hallowed Crown to steal third place a further length and a quarter away.

Craig Williams rode Volkstok’n’barrell for the first time in the race, nabbing his second win of the day after taking out the Group 3 Epona Stakes (1900m) with Scratchy Bottom.

“He’s such a laid-back customer, the way that he is bring on the Derby,” the jockey said.

“He had a really nice run, raced on well for me, got a little under balance around the turn but most importantly he won for Donna.

“I love this horse. I’m very fortunate that I got given the chance to ride him today. I love the way that he went, he still feels like a big baby and I love how he closed the race off considering he was under pressure a fair way out.”

It was an emotional win for trainer Donna Logan, who lost her partner in both training and life, Dean, to cancer last week.

“It surely was,” she said when asked if the result was a heart-stopper.

“We got beaten in race two with Rising Romance and I was starting to get my lip down a bit, thinking ‘have I over faced my boy here today’ but geez he stood up and really made us proud.

“It was a fantastic ride, Craig Williams does his homework. Credit to him, he rode the horse beautifully.

“I was really worried [the New Zealand form] wouldn’t hold up, we’ve won at home but when you get over here it’s a different ball game. These guys are tough, they’re good horses, so I was worried.”

Volkstok’n’barrell holds a nomination for the Group 1 Australian Derby (2400m) on April 4, day one of The Championships, which Logan would love to tackle.

“I’d like to have a crack at the Derby but I need to talk to Craig about it first, see if he can handle the trip,” she said.

Punters who backed Volkstok’n’barrell to win the 2015 Rosehill Guineas at Ladbrokes.com.au enjoyed a good win with odds of $7.

2015 Rosehill Guineas Race Results & Finishing Order

Finish	No.	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Margin	Bar.	Weight	Starting Price
1	6	VOLKSTOK’N’BARRELL (NZ)	Donna Logan	Craig Williams	–	2	56.5kg	$7
2	2	PREFERMENT (NZ)	Chris Waller	Damien Oliver	0.1L	1	56.5kg	$31
3	1	HALLOWED CROWN	Bart & James Cummings	Hugh Bowman	1.4L	7	56.5kg	$2.80F
4	4	SWEYNESSE	John O’Shea	James McDonald	5.4L	5	56.5kg	$2.90
5	3	MONGOLIAN KHAN	Murray Baker	Opie Bosson	6.2L	6	56.5kg	$5.50
6	5	HAMPTON COURT	Gai Waterhouse	Joshua Parr	7.2L	4	56.5kg	$21
7	7	POUNAMU	Allan Denham	Glyn Schofield	8.4L	3	56.5kg	$151